Bananas currently and historically have been shipped in a corrugated paper box consisting of a double wall Half Slotted Container (HSC) body covered by a single wall HSC full depth telescoping cover. These paper boxes are typically fabricated local to the banana plantations where they are assembled on a box-forming machine or by hand at the packing sheds on the banana plantations. The double wall bottom of the box is formed, in a secondary operation, and then packed with the bananas inverted or crown up to minimize transportation damage. Another box-making machine or individual forms the single wall top of the box which is then slid over the bottom of the box to the full depth of the container. When completed, the bananas are protected by the combined wall thicknesses in a paper box that has triple thick sidewalls, double wall bottom flaps and single wall top flaps.
The finished box is very expensive, typically over $1.25 per box and gets thrown out at the store level. It is a one-time use shipping container that generates about 2.5 pounds of waste for each 40 pound box of bananas.
After packing in boxes, the bananas are loaded into refrigerated containers and shipped to market. Another mode of transport to market is when the boxes of bananas are loaded into the hold of a ship without the container, just packed on pallets. With either method, upon arrival at port the bananas are shipped to ripening companies in various markets where they are ripened by a gas process. After the bananas are ripened, they are shipped to the stores.
At the store level, store personnel have to manually unpack each box of bananas and put them on display on store shelves, crown down, for customers to view and purchase. Accordingly, either the ripening supplier or the store personnel have to invert the cases or bunches of bananas by hand prior to lifting each bunch out and putting them on a display stand. Bananas are a high volume retail item. The unpacking and handling of bananas at the store level is very time consuming and labor intensive, costing the supermarkets labor and wasted time.